


The Hair Tie Incident

by NotVampireJasper



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts First Year, Long Hair, Potions Class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 09:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14998334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotVampireJasper/pseuds/NotVampireJasper
Summary: Potions involves fire, dangerous ingredients, and surely there’s a risk of contamination if some of your hair falls in. Why doesn’t anyone insist on tying up long hair?





	The Hair Tie Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Amanda couldn’t help but stare. There was a Gryffindor girl sitting up near the front of the potions classroom, and she had some of the most amazing hair she had ever seen. She couldn’t really take her eyes off it, even though she knew she was being rude by staring. The colour was fairly ordinary, a dark brown, and while it was long it wasn’t exceptionally so. It was incredibly bushy though, with long riotous curls that were left to hang free. It was certainly striking when compared to the refined styles that many of the other girls sported. Not that Amanda had a problem with anyone dressing their hair as much or as little as they wanted to. No, the problem was this was a potions class. Which meant fire and open cauldrons. Dangerous ingredients, possible explosions, and the ever-present risk of contamination. Sure, in first year they probably weren’t working with anything too dangerous. But it wouldn’t stay like that forever, and long hair really should be tied up before brewing. Amanda was willing to bet that even Professor Snape tied up his hair before working on his own potions. 

She had spotted the potential problem during the first class, which was also the practical one, but had held herself back. Firstly, because giving an opinion when it wasn’t asked for was rude, and secondly, she didn’t know this girl. There might be a reason she wore her hair out. Amanda was a muggleborn witch. She didn’t yet know all the intricacies of the magical world. The professor who had visited her to explain magic and show her around Diagon Alley (Professor Flitwick), had been very busy that day. He’d only been able to stay and answer her first few questions before he had to be off to meet another student and their family. She hadn’t had time to ask him about the culture and customs of magical people. He’d only told her that she would be wearing robes at school, and that robes were worn by everyone regardless of gender. She hadn’t even been given time to discretely ask about what form of religion most witches and wizards followed. She was very concerned that she might offend someone with an ill-thought question or comment. 

There had also been the distinct possibility that the girl knew the risks, and simply didn’t care. There had been no mention in the uniform guidelines about long hair needing to be tied up, so perhaps there was no rule against it. No matter how foolish that sounded to Amanda. 

She had waited during that first class for Professor Snape to say or do something about the issue. Maybe to the individual girl, or maybe the whole class. There were certainly many others with long hair that was not tied back. But, he never did. In fact, once he walked into the classroom all he did was introduce himself, take roll call, and tell them to begin as the instructions were up on the blackboard. 

What? That was it?

Amanda’s uncle is a chemistry teacher at a high school. He’d told her that at the beginning of the year at least two lessons were spent going through safety rules, informing the students where all the equipment and chemicals were found, as well as teaching them how to use the equipment. There had been nothing in the textbook about lab safety (she had checked) but she had assumed that Professor Snape was going to go through it personally. 

Now, admittedly, the instructions weren’t hard to follow. The Boil Cure was something that only contained six steps to produce. But Professor Snape was meant to be teaching them! There were no instructions given on what to do if something went wrong. What were they to do if something broke or shattered or caught fire? There no instruction on how to safely handle what was essentially a pot full of boiling liquid. They were standing next to and over it, and none of them had any safety gear. There was also no explanation for how any of this worked, which would have been very educational. What was it about these ingredients and these preparations that produced a cure for boils? It looked like she was going to have to go off and find out herself. And there was no explanation of what he had written down. What did he mean by “finely chopped”? How small was “finely” in this case? The same went with “well crushed”. What did that mean? She could guess of course, but some clarity from the start would have been nice. At least a chance to ask some questions. They were first year students in their first lesson! 

She’d been too busy making her potion to give another thought to the busy-haired Gryffindor girl until next week, when they were in the same class again. 

She’d found out a bit more about the girl from the gossip circles. Amanda tried to stay away from people who gossiped, but seeing as that was most of her classmates it was pretty hard. Then again, curiosity and a drive to learn were the staples of Ravenclaw house. Perhaps gossip was inevitable. The girl’s name was Hermione Granger, and she was a muggleborn witch. She was gifted academically, but not socially. The rumours were saying that she was having a hard time making friends. Amanda could sympathise with that. Hermione was a girl who very strictly followed the rules and was very diligent in her studies. She had already made herself a home in the library. 

These facts made it pretty unlikely that Hermione was deliberately acting out or keeping her hair out for cultural or religious reasons. So, Amanda decided that she would try and help her. 

The first thing she tried was tying her hair up in front of Hermione at the start of class. She had hoped that it would trigger something and the girl would maybe copy her. Hermione saw her, she was certain. But nothing came from it. It was at that point that Amanda noticed that Hermione didn’t have any hair ties on her wrists. Well, that was shorted-sighted of her. She should have factored that in from the beginning when planning, rather than risk making a fool of herself. What kind of person with hair like that didn’t carry around some hair ties though? Amanda’s hair only reached her shoulders and it still annoyed her on more than one occasion every day. 

She needed to come up with a second plan. 

She watched during roll call and at the start of the lesson, during the part where everyone was scrambling for the ingredients. Hermione had her head bowed and was diligently taking notes on her potion so that she wouldn’t have to constantly be looking back up at the blackboard. Amanda glanced over towards Professor Snape. Said professor was keeping a close eye on all the students but wasn’t making any moves to assist yet. She sighed in aggravation. Why was it that if she wanted anything done she had to do it herself at this school? Then again, no one at this school seemed overly concerned about safety. Hence the “go-there-and-you-will-die-a-painful-death” corridor on the third floor. 

She would have to take direct action. She didn’t like having to take direct action. 

She checked the ingredients she had collected at her desk, and decided that now was the time. Slipping out of her seat she walked quickly over to the girl, wanting to get to her before she started brewing. No need to cause an accident after all. When she was next to her she cleared her throat, watching in interest as Hermione tensed and then turned to face her. Now why would a brave lion look so panicked? It looks like those other rumours, the ones about the bullying in the lion's den might be true. So much for the “your house is your family” speech they were all given. She set the thought aside for now, and focused on the person in front of her. 

“Excuse me. I thought you could use one of these for your hair,” And so saying she offered Hermione one of her strongest hair ties, placing it into her hand before she could refuse. 

“What? I-” 

“We're working with an open flame and a cauldron of mixed ingredients. You don’t want your hair catching fire or contaminating your work. So, I thought I’d offer you a hair tie. If-if you want it of course,” Amanda stuttered out the last part. She always got sort of nervous when talking to new people. 

Hermione’s eyes widened in understanding and she gave her a smile. 

“Okay then. Thank you very much,” She quickly put her hair into a ponytail and Amanda gave her a nod before leaving. She was glad that was over. Hermione was safer now and she could get back to her own work. 

She nearly froze at the look of genuine surprise on the professor’s face, as well as the small smile, more of a twitch of the lips, that appeared a moment later. 

What was that about?

**Author's Note:**

> I have three sisters. I know how long hair works.


End file.
